The two very different halves of Ben is Back could each have been their own movie – with one likely being much better than the other. The disparity in tone and pacing found between the film’s first and second halves isn’t great enough to sink the whole effort, but it raises enough questions to keep the very promising set-up from reaching its full potential.
After last year’s somewhat disappointing family drug drama, Beautiful Boy, I began to wonder if movies like this are still necessary. Have stories about loving, wealthy, suburban families and their drug-addicted children been told to death? There’s a definable formula that becomes easy to spot for anyone who’s paying attention, which makes many of these films predictable and forgettable.
Ben is Back shows promise early on, however, by switching things up a bit. In this story, Ben (Lucas Hedges) is an addict who desperately wants to stay clean, and with the help of his mother (Julia Roberts) and his family (Courtney B. Vance and Kathryn Newton), he just might succeed. Usually, we’re treated to desperate parents who are coming to terms with their child’s self-destruction, ending with a third act stint in rehab and some positive messaging. Not this time.
Ben is Back skips all that and begins with the titular character coming home for Christmas from a sober living house. The family is naturally suspicious and doesn’t hide the measures quickly taken to ensure that Ben has a successful visit. It’s in these moments that the film is at its best. The family drama is handled with equal parts tension and love, allowing for plenty of exploration and understanding. It’s still a movie about how a family copes in the face of drug addiction, but at least it’s not a typical or overly formulaic one.
Where the film goes off the rails is in its second half. Without warning, we’re amid a half-baked thriller centered on the recovery of a stolen dog from a group of vindictive drug dealers. It’s a jarring switch that could have worked if it took about half the time it does to conclude, and the seedy underworld Roberts finds herself in wasn’t so damned cliched. I didn’t buy any of it, but much worse is that this twist nearly undermines the entire first half of the film.
I’m conflicted about the film’s final moments (as are many critics), but I lean towards disappointment. Had the lead-up to the climax not been so strange, I may feel different but I can only work with what I’ve been given. The performances are all good, though, with the Roberts/Hedges, mother/son relationship ringing as exceptionally sincere – especially considering the potential for surface-level banality.
Ben is Back may not offer the gut-punch films like Requiem for a Dream (2000) do, but even with the weird direction it takes, it still offers enough to make it worth a look.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.